Madison, Wisconsin
1/4/2023 | 27m 45sVideo has Closed Captions
Samantha visits Madison, WI for ice fishing, cheese tasting and curling.
Kicking off her visit to the Capitol of the Badger state, Samantha explores ice fishing on the frozen Monona Bay. From there, Samantha tastes sophisticated Wisconsin cheeses, becomes a judge in the 2022 World-Wide Mustard Competition, discovers the history of a Frank Lloyd Wright designed church and learns about the sport of curling and its Madison roots from US Olympian Becca Hamilton.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Distributed nationally by American Public Television
Madison, Wisconsin
1/4/2023 | 27m 45sVideo has Closed Captions
Kicking off her visit to the Capitol of the Badger state, Samantha explores ice fishing on the frozen Monona Bay. From there, Samantha tastes sophisticated Wisconsin cheeses, becomes a judge in the 2022 World-Wide Mustard Competition, discovers the history of a Frank Lloyd Wright designed church and learns about the sport of curling and its Madison roots from US Olympian Becca Hamilton.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship-There's nothing quite like the magic of a frozen lake.
I love winter and I've come here to experience a city's unique culture in it, when the cold gives host to ephemeral activities and the locals embrace a season to its fullest.
It's a place where a famous architect built his hometown church, where cheese is made and mongered, and suppers are wonderfully old-fashioned, a state capital where all are welcomed into the house.
Just bring a broom.
Whew!
I'm in Madison, Wisconsin.
[ Upbeat tune plays ] I'm Samantha Brown and I've traveled all over this world.
And I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.
That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.
Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" is made possible by... ♪ ♪ ♪ -The world is full of breathtaking destinations and experiences.
AAA wants to help turn vacation dreams into reality.
Wherever you want to go, AAA has services to help you before, during, and after your trip.
Learn more at AAA.com/LIVETV.
-The endless deserts, canyons, and stunning vistas between Denver and Moab deserve to be traveled.
Rocky Mountaineer.
Proud sponsor of "Places to Love."
-Exploring the world for over 150 years.
Guests cruise to nearly 400 ports of call around the globe, exploring over 100 countries.
Live music at sea fills each evening.
Dining venues feature selections from a Culinary Council of chefs.
Offering mid-sized ship experiences with handcrafted itineraries, personal service, and connections to the destinations guests visit.
-The University of Wisconsin-Madison is famous for a couple things, one being academic freedom in the classroom, but the other being this idea of service, of giving back to others, known as the Wisconsin Idea.
The Wisconsin Idea asks us to take our gifts and talents and share them with the world, hopefully, enhancing the well-being of others.
[ Speaking Ho-Chunk ] I just said, "It's nice to be here.
My name is Aaron Bird Bear," in the Ho-Chunk language, the People of the Sacred Voice.
I'm the inaugural tribal relations director here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
-Aaron is showing me around what's been called the most archeologically rich campus in the United States.
Being the director of tribal relations, is that -- is your responsibility, then, bridging the present with the past, and even the ancient past?
-It's really important to understand who contemporary indigenous nations are today and their connections to land.
You know, indigeneity is really important to acknowledge and indigeneity is kind of pulling back the colonial veneer a little bit and we can see the 12,000 years of human activity and human life here in the Great Lakes.
-When you say that University of Wisconsin is archeologically rich, you're talking about what we're looking at right here.
These are effigy mounds.
-Correct.
-And this one is of a bird?
-Correct.
It's a bird effigy.
And bird effigies are pretty common.
And so, if we look at this particular diagram, we can see a bird and we're standing right here at the top of the bird's head -Oh, my gosh.
and we can see the bird's body right in front of us and then the wings going off in each direction.
-How old is this mound?
-So this mound is probably between 1,000 and 1,500 years old.
-Wow!
That's amazing!
So, what were the mounds for?
I mean, I imagine they're just sort of shrouded in mystery, but what do we know about the mounds that we're seeing today?
-They are internment sites, in the sense that every conical, linear, and effigy mound is a burial site -Oh.
and someone is still interred here today.
This is an unexcavated burial site.
So, yeah, someone clearly significant, for the amount of effort it takes to build a large-scale kind of bird replica on the ground, kind of get a sense of their importance.
-Do you feel that the students here understand the sacred land that they get to learn on?
-The chancellor's convocation for new students, the campus and visitor relations, are now incorporating this powerful story of humanity that goes back such a long period of time into how we explain to students why this is such a special campus to come and study on.
-And so we've gone from the effigy mounds of the Ho-Chunk, which depicts a bird, and now, we're actually looking at a more modern depiction of a bird.
This is the architectural design of a residence hall on campus, where you'll find a fire pit featuring the seals of the Native American nations of Wisconsin.
-We have indigenous students from every Native nation of Wisconsin and we do our best to allow students to see the shifting relationship of the university with indigenous peoples from one of kind of complicit with settler colonialism to, now, an institution deeply invested in indigenous knowledge in all sorts of places on campus.
-So, you actually went here for school, for your grad work.
-Yeah, I was really fortunate to get to work with Ada Deer, one of the most important indigenous scholars of the 20th century, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She really helped end these policies called assimilation and termination, where the United States government was actively trying to eradicate Native American language and culture, up until the year 1975.
-And those are her words right there, right?
-Correct.
Her words are, "I want to show people who say nothing can be done in this society, that it just isn't so.
You don't have to collapse just because there's federal law in your way.
Change it!"
Ada Deer, Class of '57.
-In the state of Wisconsin, there's a specific type of eating establishment that holds a culture all its own.
A neon sign acts as a beacon to another time and place.
It's a place you can imagine your grandparents, still young and spry, went out to enjoy a strong cocktail and a hearty dinner.
It's a Wisconsin supper club.
There are about 250 here in the state, and I'm in one of them -- the Tornado Room.
-I will have a brandy old-fashioned sour with olives, instead of the fruit.
-Whoa!
Hello!
That's not the old-fashioned I'm used to.
-Traditionally, Wisconsin old-fashioned is with brandy and then you get your choice of sweet, sour, press.
Sweet is with Sprite, the sour is with Squirt, and press is half Sprite, half soda.
It's just a little less on the sweet side.
-And this is the official drink of the Wisconsin supper club?
-I think so.
This is the only place where I have an old-fashioned.
-And thus begins your experience.
-Cheers.
What makes a supper club in Wisconsin different from a restaurant?
-We love to debate this in Wisconsin.
In a perfect world, a supper club will be open just for dinner.
-Mm-hmm.
-It would be independently owned.
There's a loyalty that you don't find in a lot of other restaurants settings.
You're not coming just for dinner.
You're coming to see your neighbors.
You're coming to hang out and make it an experience.
-Being a club, is it something I have to belong to?
Do I have to have a membership here?
-Just the opposite, where everybody should feel a sense of belonging, even a stranger.
Especially a stranger, if it's a good supper club.
-So, I'm walking into a supper club, my attitude completely changes.
I know that I am going to be, you know, mindful of strangers and talk to them, be friendly.
It's almost like everyone's the host of the same party, right?
And it's your job -That's a great way -to create the energy.
-to explain it.
Mm-hmm.
[ Sizzling ] This is the mark of a good supper club -- a menu where certain things are expected.
-Mm-hmm.
-A fish fry on Friday.
Prime rib on Saturday.
Maybe roasted chicken or something like that as a special on Sunday.
But there can be surprises, too.
-Like frog legs, which you won't find on all the menus, but it is one of Mary's favorites from her college days.
Two things you can always count on?
Fresh baked bread and a traditional Wisconsin relish tray of nibbly vegetables.
Although, the one served here looks like a... Bloody Mary in search of its drink.
So, obviously, eating at a supper club is a very generous affair and this is, I would say, a much nicer meal than I thought I was going to have.
In my mind, I still thought I was going to have like pub food, I guess.
-Mm, mm-hmm.
-But this is a -- this, to me, is a very special meal.
-Again, you know, you're you're tapping into what would be a classic supper club meal -- generous.
-And, just kind of looking around, people are dressed either casually and some people are just a little more upscale, so, it really is a come as you are, come as you want to be crowd.
-Right.
Madison's a little bit like that, anyway, though, I think.
-Well, thank you so much, Mary.
When you're ready to write your second book about supper clubs, I'll be your assistant.
[ Clink ] -Cheers to you.
[ Indistinct conversations ] [ Whimsical tune plays ] -There is no state more synonymous with cheese than Wisconsin.
Out of the 1,800 different types of cheeses in the world, 600 are made right here.
In fact, if Wisconsin were a country, it would be the world's fourth largest producer of cheese.
And you'll find a lot of these cheeses right here on Capitol Square at Fromagination.
-A lot of cheese makers are creating -- continue to create American originals.
One example of that would be this, what we call the Red Rock.
This is actually cave-aged, so, this is a natural bloomy rind.
And then he adds some blue mold.
We like to call this kind of the gateway blue -Mm-hmm.
-because a lot of people are intimidated by blue cheese.
-Yeah.
-This cheese here just won one of the Top 20 Cheeses in the World in the most recent Cheese Championship.
-This cheese won Top 20... -In the world.
-...in the world.
How many cheeses did he go up against?
-Around 1,800 cheeses entered this year's competition in 2022.
-Oh, my goodness!
-So, it's a big feat, you know.
-Yes!
-It's a big honor for a cheesemaker in Wisconsin -Mm-hmm.
-to outperform cheeses from all over the world.
-Ken knows his cheese.
But here's where his knowledge takes flight.
-First thing we do is you start with the cheese.
-Mm-hmm.
-The cheese is the star of the plate.
-Mm-hmm.
Building the dream cheese board.
-So, we're going to put that on the plate.
The one thing I like to do is we like to cut in these long triangles because we want you to taste from the rind all the way to the core.
-And you never eat the rind, right?
-If it's a wax rind, no.
But if it's an edible rind, taste it.
If you like it, eat it.
If you don't, it's a personal preference.
-Oh, okay, good, good.
[ Laughter ] -The other thing you want to do is you want to taste cheese at room temperature.
Really brings out the flavor.
-Should I not keep it in the refrigerator?
-You should keep it in the refrigerator, but take it out like an hour before -I didn't know that.
-and the flavors come to light.
-Okay.
Bring it to room temperature.
I feel like assembling a cheese board is really intimidating and I'm realizing that having your own cheesemonger is like going to a pharmacy.
You trust your pharmacist, right?
You really ask them.
So, we can't go to the cheesemaker, the doctor, right?
We go to our cheesemonger to kind of give us this prescription of great cheeses to enjoy.
-And then have fun with it.
If you if you like salami, you can create these little roses.
-I love this.
-You know, this is like an experiment here.
-Mm-hmm.
-And see what works.
Some people are going to like cucumbers and cheddars.
Some people are going to like walnuts and blue cheese, you know?
So it just depends.
And that's why you want an assortment, because this is something to be shared with everyone.
-Mm-hmm.
That is so good.
When it comes to cheese, I'm like a cow.
-[ Laughs ] -I have four stomachs, too.
I could eat this whole thing.
-Welcome to Wisconsin.
[ Laughter ] -One of Madison's most famous residents was the architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
His parents were original founders of this Unitarian congregation in 1897, so, it was only natural that their famous son would be the one to design the new building.
Frank Lloyd Wright is known for having a very long, productive career.
Where does this church fit into his timeline?
-Well, it was completed in 1951, when he was 84.
-Wow!
He called it his little country church.
-[ Laughs ] -Not so much the case anymore.
Before this was built, church architecture consisted of rectangular boxes with steeples.
-Uh-huh.
-So, any design that has that soaring roofline after 1950 was absolutely affected by the -Wow!
-building of this building.
-The first clue you have that this is a Frank Lloyd Wright building is its stunning modern architecture.
The second clue is not knowing how to get inside it.
-Yes, that's one aspect of Usonian architecture, is to have a hidden front door.
It's also quite low.
-I mean, even I can touch it.
I'm like 5'3".
-Right?
And I can touch it and I'm 5'1".
-And I'm lying by an inch.
[ Laughter ] -In fact, people started complaining even before it was completed.
-Mm-hmm.
He said, "Well, let them bow their heads when they come into my building."
-Oh!
[ Laughter ] Oh, now, it's my building, now.
-Oh, it was his building.
-This is his building, okay.
-Yes, this was his building.
-Uh-huh.
He even signed the building, so to speak, with his official chop.
Once you find the front door, there is a payoff.
Oh, my goodness!
[ Laughs ] -Isn't this marvelous?
-It's magnificent!
And this is my reaction in 2022.
Seventy years ago, these plans were made.
What was the reaction?
Was it, "Whoa!
What what are you giving us?!"
Because this is unlike any other church architecture -Right.
-of its time.
-Well, I think they were a bit befuddled, but they actually had a minister who was very supportive of doing a Wright design.
He was very artistic.
Unitarians are the most liberal of all faith traditions, so, I think having something that was on the leading edge -Ah.
-was probably something that they were happy about.
-Okay.
-He believed that shapes had meaning and the basic shape for this building is the equilateral triangle or the diamond shape.
And the triangle represented aspiration -Oh!
-because Unitarians aspire to know the truth, rather than have -- since we have no dogma -- any particular idea of the truth.
We aspire to learn the truth.
-Wow!
Beautiful!
One thing that really strikes me about being in here is when you're outside and inside, there's a real continuity.
-Absolutely.
-You feel almost outside.
-Yeah.
Well, that's part of his organic architectural tradition.
He believed that nature was the only body of God you'd ever see.
-Okay.
Whew!
Yeah.
Wow!
Whew!
Whew!
Oh.
[ Gasping ] -The little kick there?
-[ Laughs ] Whoa!
I am serving as a judge in the World-Wide Mustard Competition at the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin, with 250 mustards in contention in 17 categories.
I'm with museum founder Barry Levenson, judging the sweet hot category.
They're all sweet hot.
[ Laughs ] -They are, and they should be.
-Mm-hmm.
-What do you think?
-When it comes to mustard, I don't mince words.
Just no body.
It's total flat, dull on the palate.
Just kind of tastes like, I don't know, like baby food.
-Here at the National Mustard Museum, we have the world's largest collection of mustards, more than 6,400 different mustards, representing all 50 states and more than 80 countries.
That's a lot of mustard.
-So, this is really speaking to the traveler in me because, when I see mustard in a pot, oh, my gosh, I'm going to bring like four jars home.
-This is the way mustard was presented, you know, with respect.
-Mm-hmm.
-Like this one here.
-Mm-hmm.
-That's the spoon hanging out.
-[ Laughs ] Oh, my gosh.
Really?
-Yeah.
You take -- You take the lid off and, um... -That's adorable.
-...that's a spoon.
-That's adorable.
-That's the tongue.
So, you have earned your chops.
-I'm going to tell you what I -- which one won, though.
-Oh, yeah, tell me.
-Because there is a clear winner.
-And which one -5.
-did you like?
Number 5.
-I do like that one.
-Mustard is universal.
That's the nice thing about it.
It's never been an expensive spice, so, it's sometimes called the Spice of Nations and that's what we celebrate here at the Mustard Museum.
-The Garver Feed Mill was once just that -- a sprawling grain factory.
But it's been beautifully repurposed to become home to a growing community of local artisans, businesses, and wellness studios.
One of its inaugural tenants is an Ayurvedic spa called Kosa.
-Kosa is a yogic philosophy around the layers of the self.
And the outer layers are our physical layers and you move toward energetic and, ultimately, the innermost layer is your bliss body.
And, at Kosa, we want to help you experience that place and find that place for yourself.
I'm Shilpa Sankaran and I was born in Bombay, India.
I came to the United States as a toddler and moved to Madison, Wisconsin, when I was eight years old.
-One thing I've really noticed about travelers, these days, is that they are looking to feel that sense of well-being again.
That is an active part of their travels.
And what really struck me about your spot is that it is absolutely approachable and attainable.
-That was the intention, was to allow for wellness to be accessible, you know, for people to feel welcome, to feel like this is their living room and not some special, high-end place.
-And a part of that vibe is also the food.
And these are recipes from your family as well.
Even your mom is back there in the kitchen, creating them.
-Well, Kosa is an Ayurvedic spa.
Ayurveda is the wisdom of life.
Ayurveda treats food as medicine.
And so we had to bring food in, in some way, but we didn't know we would create the kitchen until my mom kind of insisted on it and she said, "We need to cook the food because we can only deliver our energy and our love through our recipes," and so we do.
-The treatment I'm about to get -- Abhyanga?
-Mm-hmm, very good.
-Oh, I got it?
Alright!
-I always like to ask people to say it.
[ Laughter ] -Abhyanga.
-I was given abhyanga as a baby.
Most babies receive it because it's a loving connection.
Even the word oil, which is used in abhyanga, is the Sanskrit term for the word love.
-I'm also getting the shirodhara treatment -- Oil poured directly on the forehead, or the third eye.
-So, when we pour that oil on there for 30, 40 minutes, it opens those energetic channels.
It's very grounding and some people get into a dream state.
Some people have visions.
Some people just have a really great night's sleep -[ Chuckles ] -after that.
It's also called bliss therapy.
-A peaceful retreat.
Time for just me to rest, renew, and get ready to launch.
Pun intended.
[ Upbeat rock plays ] ♪ -Sweep, hurry!
-[ Hushed ] I have no idea what I'm doing.
-Alright, so, a curling team is based of four players.
You throw in alternating order with the other team and the goal is to get your rocks closest to the center of the house.
The house is the target that you're aiming at at the other end of the sheet.
The closest one to the middle score the points that end.
Easy as that.
I'm Becca Hamilton, member of the Madison Curling Club.
I'm a two-time Winter Olympian, two-time National Women's Champion, and a two-time Mixed Doubles Champion.
-So, I feel like I'm speaking for everyone when I say that the very first time we saw curling was as an Olympic sport.
-Yeah.
-It was an introduction to all of us.
And I feel like I can speak for almost every American when we thought, "What in the world is that sport?"
-Same.
-Right?
[ Laughter ] And yet, we all fell in love with it.
-Yeah.
I feel like a lot of people love the sport because, I mean, there's such a large -- like a large variety of people that can do it.
I mean, you come down to the club and you'll see a senior league or you'll come down, you'll see juniors learning how to curl for the first time.
-We can also see you.
You're not covered up by a mask -Yeah, exactly.
-or a helmet or any sort of overprotective gear.
-We're the only team that's micced up.
-Yeah!
-It's really personal.
I mean, you can hear everything we're saying and the raw emotion of making a shot or missing a shot.
-Alright, so, you're going to teach me how to play on the sheet with a broom and a stone, getting past the hog line into the home.
-The house.
-The house, sorry.
[ Laughter ] -That's alright.
-I think I got this.
Okay.
Lesson 1 -- learning how to correctly throw the stone and discovering why the sport is named that way.
-So, it's kind of like driving a car.
So, there's the in turn and the out turn.
The out turn, you start at 2:00.
-Okay.
-When you release it, you turn the rock to the left.
-Oh!
Okay.
-And that's going to make it curl.
-And that's where the term curling comes from.
-Exactly.
-That you're actually curling the stone.
I never knew that.
Lesson 2 -- mastering the art and science of sweeping.
-Curling ice has a pebble, which are these little droplets of ice that are put on the surface before our games.
So, you want to put as much pressure as you can and move the broom as fast as you can to break down that pebble, to make the rock go further.
That's pretty cool.
-Okay.
-Curling.
-Good curling.
-Good curling.
-Good curling.
And Lesson 3, the most important one -- demonstrating that camaraderie and good sportsmanship is essential to this game.
Nice.
-Let the games begin.
-Yeah.
[ Fanfare plays ] ♪ -My team?
I'm alongside Becca Hamilton; her dad, Scott Hamilton, who's also father to a second Olympic curler, her brother Matt; and Brooklyn Curling Club member and my husband, Kevin O'Leary.
-Take the corner!
-[ Grunts ] -[ Grunting ] Whew!
Give them the stink eye.
-Give them the stink eye.
Because I thought actually being here would be intimidating them, but no.
-Heavy.
-Ooh.
Can I say sweep?
-Yep.
-Can I start yelling?
Ohhh!
They can do that?!
-Hurry!
-Yep.
Yep.
Yep.
All the way there.
-[ Grunting ] -Come on, girl.
That-a-girl.
[Indistinct] Get in.
-Alright!
When the game is over, the game isn't over.
At this curling club, there are eight chairs around a table, so all members of both teams can hang out.
And here's where you really get a sense of the depth of the curling community.
-It's everybody from plumbers to neurosurgeons.
It's a vast walks of life, you know what I mean?
So, it's pretty interesting.
-And, of course, the celebratory beverage of choice is...?
Yes, the Wisconsin old-fashioned.
[ Clinking ] -Cheers.
-Good curling.
-Good curling.
-And good curling.
[ Clinking ] -Okay.
-I love Madison.
I mean, I was born and raised here.
I went to school here.
I went to college here.
A traveler to Madison has to go to a supper club.
We have some of the best ones here in the state.
You have to have an old-fashioned.
-It's this natural environment around this that makes Madison, Wisconsin, so special.
Indigenous nations have stewarded this place for countless generations and we today benefit from the incredible specialness of the environment and the lake chains around us.
-So, in Madison, you find the perfect balance between small town Midwestern values.
People care about each other.
They respect one another.
-These are friendly people.
These are nice people.
These are people that you are going to find to be your friends.
These are people who really do cut the mustard.
-[ Gasping ] When you get to relish in the uniqueness of a season, when a destination feels more like a retreat, when kindness given is anything but old-fashioned, that is when we share a love of travel and that's why Madison, Wisconsin, is a place to love.
-For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.
Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" was made possible by... -Exploring the world for over 150 years.
Guests cruise to nearly 400 ports of call around the globe, exploring over 100 countries.
Live music at sea fills each evening.
Dining venues feature selections from a Culinary Council of chefs.
Offering mid-sized ship experiences with handcrafted itineraries, personal service, and connections to the destinations guests visit.
-The endless deserts, canyons, and stunning vistas between Denver and Moab deserve to be traveled.
Rocky Mountaineer.
Proud sponsor of "Places to Love."
-The world is full of breathtaking destinations and experiences.
AAA wants to help turn vacation dreams into reality.
Wherever you want to go, AAA has services to help you before, during, and after your trip.
Learn more at AAA.com/LIVETV.
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